Music coverage by and for people who really like music...

Photographer Profile

May 10, 2012

Hey kids! So as you've been hearing from us all week, this Saturday, May 12th is This Ain't a Scene, a special photo exhibit and show at 1650 Gallery in Echo Park on the music community of East L.A. It features a curated, inspiring collection of images from both veteran and new music photographers, short live acoustic sets by Rob Danson from Death to Anders, Kelli Noftle from Miniature Soap (and formerly Walking Sleep), Andrew Spitser from Radars to the Sky, Ryan Fuller of Fort King, and The Smugg Brothers.

The show goes from 8 pm - midnight, with music beginning at 9 pm.

To get to know the artists whose work will be included in the show a little better, we present to you mini photographer profiles. Hope you to see you Saturday!

How did you get started doing music photography? I love seeing live music and I love taking photographs. Doing music photography was the natural course of action. I started taking photos of my friends and family who make music, and now I'm out several times a week shooting shows. It's exactly how I want to contribute to and be involved with the East LA music community.

What do you think makes East LA a special place for music?Everyone gets so excited for festivals like SXSW to come around, but the Los Angeles music scene is essentially one non-stop music festival. We have such a mass and variety of musicians and venues in LA, consequently there is always something of interest and fun happening. East LA is particularly special because of the strong DIY presence.

May 09, 2012

Radio Free Silver Lake is proud to present"This Ain't a Scene," a photography exhibition that opens with live music from some of RFSL's favorite musical acts Saturday May 12 at 1650 Gallery in Echo Park. The exhibition is a tribute to the vibrant music scene on the east side of Los Angeles, and to the photographers who capture and document these gigs, many these artist have contributed to Radio Free Silver Lake. Preview the exhibition at the 1650 Gallery site. Participating photographers include: Sterling Andrews, Miriam Brummel, Levent Buyukgural, Zoe-Ruth Erwin, Michele Evans, Gabriela Gonzalez, Michael Gomez Burton, Olivia Hemaratanatorn, Ben Hoste, Angela Holtzen, Jeff Koga, Rollence Patugan, Carl Pocket, Timothy Norris, Laurie Scavo, & George Tapia

September 23, 2010

By Kathryn PintoTomorrow night beginning at 8:00 PM Ballard's Framing in Echo Park presents a three person photography show spotlighting the work of Jeff Koga, Laurie Scavo and Sterling Andrews. If you know an image of a Silver Lake band, there's a very good chance the photograph was taken by one of these artists. You probably know these photos from web sites or music blogs, but this exhibition is a really great chance to see these phototgraphs presented as a body of work in a gallery setting.

This gallery exhibition opens Friday, September 24 and runs through October 16. The opening reception will take place Friday September 24 from 8:00pm to midnight. Ballard's Artwork Framing & Gallery is located in beautiful Echo Park next to the Gold Room at 1568 W. Sunset Blvd., Echo Park, CA 90026. For more information call (818) 468.5315 or visit www.ballardsartworkframing.com/.

March 04, 2010

Ben Hoste is the kind of guy who will stop you mid-flip
through a vinyl bin and say, “Wait. Stop. You really need to buy this record. Do you
know these guys?” and then launch into a genealogy of all current and previous
members going back four band generations. Hoste needs you to know
this band, and he doesn’t reserve his enthusiasm just for the ladies. (Although
when I observed him at the opening of SNAP, his photography show at Origami Vinyl,
last Sunday the particular girl browsing the record bin was very easy on the
eyes.)

Recently Hoste launched one of the freshest additions to
the LA music blog lineup, This Ain’t a Scene. “Interviewing singers from some of the best bands in the Silver lake
music scene,” Volume One is composed of twelve issues, each devoted to a band
member interviewed and photographed by Hoste in the singer’s home, most
recently Corinne Dinner of the Hectors.

April 24, 2009

Denver transplant Laurie Scavo recently joined the ranks of excellent music photographers covering the Los Angeles scene like Jeff Koga, Sterling Andrews, Zoe-Ruth Erwin, Simon Cardoza, and Benjamin Hoste. So we wanted to ask her a few questions about starting up and coming to LA, as well as show off a few of our favorite pics from her, y'know, oeuvre.

Welcome to LA! What brought you here? How are you liking it?

Thanks for the welcome! Since college, moving to LA has always been an elusive goal of mine. I think that I wasn't supposed to end up here until I had a direction and grew-up a little. Now that I am out of my soul-searching 20s, and photography has become a driving force in everything I do, I can honestly say that this city was worth the wait. I LOVE LA so much. Everything is better than I imagined. Is that really possible?!

March 26, 2009

Local music photographer Zoe-Ruth Erwin recently sent us a
series of photo diaries as she toured with Death to Anders down to SXSW, so we
checked in with her with a few questions about how she got started and why she
does what she does (so well).

How did you start taking photos? And doing music
photography?

The way the whole obsession of
photography started for me was extremely unconventional and, in fact, had very
little to do with an inherent interest in photography. About two years ago, I
had a dream about a woman named Laurie, who had been like a second mother to me
between the ages of ten and fifteen. I hadn't spoken with her in several years
and, as a result of the dream, felt compelled to call her and see how she was
doing. However, when I finally got her on the phone, she informed me that she
had terminal cancer which she had been battling for five years or so, and that she
only had a couple of months to live.

After hanging up the phone, I sobbed uncontrollably for
hours. My makeup was smeared all over my face and clothes. My eyes were ten-feet thick. It looked as though someone had beaten the living shit out of me.
After three or four hours, this strange calm came over me. And, for no reason
at all, I had this strange urge to pick up a camera and photograph my face just
as it was. I wanted to know and remember exactly what primal emotional pain
really looked like.